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HOW

AND

WHY

U/oru/s/i Book of

THE HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOK OF

ROBOTS

and ELECIRONIC BRAINS

Edited under the supervision of

Dr. Paul E. Blackwood, U. S. Office of Education
Washington, D. C.

Text and illustrations approved by

Oakes A. White, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn, N. Y.

WONDER BOOKS • NEW YORK

—

Electronic computers are helping usher mankind into the Space Age.
Without them it would be impossible for scientists to quickly supply crucial
answers regarding flights into outer space. Robots and automatic computers
are also helpful in practical ways as we learn in this How and Why Wonder
Book of Robots and Electronic Brains. Through pictures and numerous
examples, this book gives the reader an understanding of both the practical
and theoretical application of modern computing devices.

Scientists are interested in discovering and testing basic concepts about
phenomena and events in nature. Mathematicians develop mathematical
ways of describing and predicting these events. The two groups support
one another in making discoveries and in solving problems. Electronic
computers offer a new basis for the cooperation needed to solve problems.
Some of these problems would not be solved even in a lifetime without the
assistance of computers.

The advent of electronic computers and other forms of automation
may result in social and economic changes of great significance, such as
a shorter work week. To be well informed today, one needs to know about
the uses and potential capacities of-modern automatic devices. This How
and Why Wonder Book of Robots and Electronic Brains will give a basis
for understanding the many uses of electronic computers and will stimulate
readers of all ages to think about the machines’ effect on the future economic
and scientific developments in our nation.

Paul E. Blackwood
U.S. Office of Education
Washington, D. C.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.
Published simultaneously in Canada. Printed in the United States of America.

Contents

page

ROBOTS IN OUR WORLD 4

What are robots? 5

Where did robots originate? 5

What do robots look like? 6

How are robots used in outer space? 7
How do robots work? 8

ROBOTS WITH ELECTRONIC

BRAINS 9

What are computers? 9

What are the uses of computers? 10

Who invented computers? 10

What kinds of computers are there? 1 1

What is an analogue computer? 1 1

What is a digital computer? 14

page

How are problems given to a

computer? 26

How can you become a programmer? 28

PUTTING THE COMPUTER TO

WORK 28

How are computers valuable for

national defense? 29

How do business and industry use
computers? 30

How are computers used to aid

air and sea travel? 30

How can computers help doctors? 3 1

How does a computer become a

translator? 32

Does an electronic brain ever fail? 33

HOW A COMPUTER WORKS 14

What is meant by input? 15

What is meant by processing? 15

What is meant by output? 16

What is the computer’s logic? 16

What do you need to build a

simple computer? 1 7

How will it work? 17

How does the computer give

the answers? 1 8

THE ELEMENTS OF A

MODERN COMPUTER 19

Where is the storage element? 19

What element does the computation? 20
How do all the elements work

together? 21

How does a computer compare with
other methods of solving a
problem? 2 1

A LANGUAGE FOR THE
COMPUTER

What is the binary number system?

How do you count in the binary
system?

How are decimal numbers changed
to binary symbols?

Can the binary system give other
answers?

Can an electronic brain “think?”

THE LEARNING MACHINE 34

Can a robot learn? 34

How does the learning machine

“learn?” 34

How are learning machines used? 36

THE TEACHING MACHINE 37

What does a teaching machine

look like? 37

How does a teaching machine

“teach?” 38

Can machines replace teachers? 39

ROBOTS TAKE OVER 39

What is automation? 39

What is feedback? 39

Does automation put people out of
work? 40

AUTOMATION IN ACTION 42

How is automation used in

communications? 42

How is automation used in
transportation?

How is automation used in industry?
Can robots do tasks that man could
not do?

What is telemetry?

How far can we go?

COMPUTER TALK

Robots in Our World

The word “robot” in this age of modern science still carries with it a
feeling of both hope and fear. The hope is that machines built to work like
men will make life for the human race much pleasanter and happier.
The fear is that robots may one day take over the world and that they may
become the masters of all mankind. After you have finished reading this
book, you should be able to make up your mind as to whether robots offer
hope or should be feared.

Von Kempelen’s Chessplayer, here
shown contemplating a move, was
a clever fake, and no robot at all.
The illustration below shows the
midget who was an excellent chess-
player and who manipulated the
automaton from his hiding place.

Scientists are finding many other uses for robot type devices. For example, a mechanized radio-controlled
boat — called MOBY-DIC (Motorized Observation Biotelemetry Yacht-Data integration and Control) — is
employed as an unmanned on-the-spot observer of the social behavior of v/hales and porpoises in their
natural habitat. This information — not obtainable in captivity — is picked up by the robot’s ears and eyes
and transmitted for analysis to an oceanographic mother ship several miles away. These members of the
marine mammal family seem to ignore the unassuming robot as long as it makes no hostile moves.

What are
robots?

Not everyone agrees about what a robot
“is,” but most dictionaries
and encyclopedias define
it as a piece of machinery
that does a job you would expect a
human being to do.

The idea of building a machine that
can work and think like a man is not
new. It has existed for centuries. Most
early robot stories, however, were more
fable than fact, like the “automatic”
chess player devised by the German
Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1768. This
man-like machine had great success in
playing against the best players of Eu-
rope until it was discovered that there
was a midget inside the robot who
played the game very well.

This robot was a fake; but recently
scientists have been able to build elec-
tronic ones that really can play chess.
These machines, once taught the game,
can usually beat human players, be-
cause, unlike men, they never make the
same mistake twice. And one such
chess-playing robot is so well-mannered
that it prints out the following message
after winning a match: “Sorry, you lost.
Thank you for a very interesting game.”

The word robot, or artificial being,

comes from the

Where did robots ^ , ,

. . , _ Czech word ro-

originate?

botnick, an an-
cient name given to a serf or slave. It
was introduced into our modern lan-

MOBOT, the gentle robot, is strong enough to bend iron bars, but can also handle laboratory glasses with ease.

guage in 1922 by a Czech writer, Karel
Capek, in his play called R.U.R. The
initials that make up the play’s title
stand for Rossum’s Universal Robots.

In Capek’s play, all the work in the
world was done by man-like machines
— the robots — which Rossum manu-
factured in very large numbers. Every-
thing went along very smoothly on
earth. All the needs and pleasures of
mankind were being fulfilled, just as
long as the robots had no feelings of
their own. Then, one day, the manager
of the factory decided to make superior
robots that had all the human feelings
of happiness and pain. When this hap-
pened, the robots revolted against their
human masters and destroyed all man-
kind.

Since Capek’s play, the robot has
become a favorite character of the

science-fiction writers. Today, however,
robots are no longer paper creations.
Real robots are among us — running
factories, translating languages, chart-
ing the paths of rockets, and calculating
or forecasting almost anything we wish
to know — though they are called many
different names.

What do robots
look like?

Most robots do not look like the tin can

mechanical men
that we see in
comic strips, in
movies, or on television. In actual fact,
our amazing new robots now being de-
signed and built bear little likeness to
man. In their work, however, they dupli-
cate the skills performed by men and
often do them much better.

You see robots at work around your
home everyday although you may not

have considered them as such. But, ac-
cording to one definition, washing ma-
chines, toasters, automatic coffeepots,
electric heaters, and so forth, are all
robots. They are machines that do the
work that you would expect a human
being to do.

There are also robots doing jobs that
are too dangerous for men to do. Pos-
sibly the best known of these robots is
“Mobot.” This remote-control machine
has six-foot long arms which contain
hands, wrists, elbows and shoulders.
Two television cameras placed on ris-
ing, jointed tentacles serve as eyes. Ex-
cept for the arms and eyes, Mobot looks
like a big metal box mounted on wheels.
The wires connecting this robot with its
master carry more than 100 command
channels and two television channels.
Although designed to do the dangerous
work of handling radioactive materials
in research laboratories, Mobot may be
used, at some future time, for undersea
or outer space tasks.

All of the satellites launched by the

United States

How are robots

. . . «, intoouter

used in outer space?

space have had
robots on board. These robots have
sent back to their masters on earth, by
way of radio, such important informa-
tion or data on space as temperature,
radiation, effects of gravity, and so on.
From their lofty position in space they
have even taken photographs of earth
and other nearby planets.

When the first spaceship lands on the
moon or Mars or Venus, it will probably
have on board robots rather than human
beings. Robots, like Mobot, can map
the surface of the moon’s hidden side,
make necessary geological studies, ex-

Before sending a manned spaceship to the moon,
the United States plans to explore the moon’s surface
with instruments. This robot-exploration will start
with Ranger, an instrument capsule that is expected
to land on the moon in the Ocean of Storms. It will
be followed by the Surveyor, which will carry instru-
ments and television cameras similar to those used
by the weather satellite, Tiros. Surveyor will be fol-
lowed by Prospector, which will be able to move
along the surface of the moon like a tractor. All
three are supposed to send back to earth vital data
to be used to make a human landing less dangerous.

Computers are used in many industries. In hours they solve mathematical problems that would take a man
more than a lifetime. They are used in jet aircraft design, in missile control, in payroll make up, in
calculations of the petroleum industry, and innumerable other applications^ "

plore unknown regions, and even build
landing areas for future spaceships.
They will help to make it safer for hu-
mans when they arrive later.

While other robots look a great deal

H different from Mobot,

robots work? t ^ r basic operation

is the same. The most
important part of their operation is the
man who gives them their instructions.
These instructions are given to the ma-
chine through wires or by radio (or
may be stored in the robot itself). To
make the machine follow its master’s
wishes, power must be supplied either
through other wires or from a self-con-
tained source such as a battery.

The robot, equipped with instructions
and power, may contain some type of
sensing device, which could be a tele-
vision camera, a radiation (Geiger)
counter, or a magnetometer (a piece of
equipment used to find oil and other
minerals ) . These sensing devices can be
compared to the human’s eyes and nose
and allow the robot to gather the in-

formation to retu
The robot may
vices similar to human
Following instructions,
pick up and move objects,
might do. To do this,
rangement is usually
the operator how hard the
claws are gripping, plus
tion. (In the case of
phones on the wrists allow
to “hear” the hands at w
robots are powerful enou
bars into knots and lift
of weight, and yet they

that they can make cakes or pour glasses
of water without any bre£

Robots with Electronic Brains

Of all the robots that are among us today, those with electronic
brains, called computers, promise in the next few years to revolutionize
our way of life. These robotistic devices eliminate the drudgery from many
jobs and offer a great deal more leisure time to their human masters. While
they were originally developed to aid in the solution of certain scientific
problems, computers have turned out to be so generally useful that they
are now being employed in many different types of work.

What are
computers?

implex

If you were to look up the word “com-
puter” in a dictionary,
you would find it de-
fined as “a machine
that solves mathematical problems.”
Today, these amazing machines range
from small desk devices for “doing
sums” to room size units that can solve
mathematical problems in less
the twinkling of an eye.

While computers are sometimes
j^d “thinking machiiys.” or “robots
tHffi fthm k ” these nar
No machine can really thir

lse, but these computers do manyim-
mt and exciffl^fc^igs. By using
their ability to solvecomplex mathe-
matical' problems, computers can pre-
dict the paths* of satellites, guide
ballistics missiles in flight, or spot hign^

are mi

uni

usual

altitude weather conditions and warn us
of storms, tornadoes and hurricanes
faster and more accurately than any
weather-forecasting device ever used.

Computers do mathematical prob-
lems in hours that would take more than
a man’s lifetime to solve with paper and
pencil. They help major industry per-

|ries shown on pages 8 and 9 are just a
few examples of today’s uses of computers. Innumer-
able other uses could be mentioned.

form its manufacturing operations bet-
ter, for with their aid, skilled men can
control complex combinations of ma-
chines.

What are the uses
of computers?

Computers affect our lives in many

ways. Every day
they handle mil-
lions of pay
checks and bank accounts. They are
now being used by farmers to tell them
when to plant their crops, what to feed,,
the animals, how much water is needed
by the crops, and many other important
facts. This technological revolution in
farming offsets the increasing food de-
mands of our skyrocketing population.
Speaking of our rapidly growing popu-
lation, it is computers that help the
United States Census Bureau to keep
count of the number of Americans.

But computers go far beyond these
uses to o?her services less well-known.
They influence the design of almost

every product of advanced technology:
jet aircraft, nuclear reactors, power
plants, bridges, and chemical factories.
For instance, at the Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Alabama, two powerful
electronic brains, each capable of add-
ing nearly 14 million figures a minute,
are helping to design the huge Saturn
space craft. Saturn, destined for flights
around the moon and deep into space,
will be “flown” thousands of times on
these computers before it reaches the
launching pad.

The electronic computer, among the

foremost American

Who invented . . ~ - .

- inventions of this
computers?

century, was not an
overnight discovery. It is the fruit of the
practical science of mathematics and
has its roots far in the past.

From counting on his fingers, man
gradually progressed to pebbles on the
ground ... to pellets of bronze, sliding

A principal target of
the Saturn space vehi-
cle is the execution of a
flight around the moon
to explore the other
side of this heavenly
body. The actual flights
cost millions of dollars.
For only several hun-
dred dollars, a flight
can be simulated math-
ematically on the IBM
7090 computer. Here,
the calculation of a
moon orbit is being
studied at the Marshall
Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama. At
left is a model of
Saturn’s powerful super-
booster.

on a grooved board ... to beads strung
on framed wires . . . and to the abacus.
(See illustration, pages 12-13) The first
adding machine, invented in 1642, was
followed by a four-operation arithmetic
machine composed of a difference en-
gine that performed calculations, a
mechanical tabulator, a punch-paper
control system, and a differential ana-
lyzer. Although these inventions in-
creased computation speeds, they failed
to fulfill the needs of our complex world.

More than a century ago, Charles
Babbage, an English mathematician,
designed an “analytical engine” which
was an automatic computing machine
as we use the term today. His idea was
not completely fulfilled because no one
could make the required mechanical
parts with the needed accuracy.

In 1936, a young Harvard physicist,
Professor Howard Aiken, happened
upon some of the writings of Dr. Bab-
bage. Like Babbage, Dr. Aiken saw the
possibility of a robot that could do the
thinking of hundreds of men in a frac-
tion of the time it took any one of them
to work out routine mathematical prob-
lems. Aiken teamed up with other re-
searchers and, by 1944, they built the
first workable computer.

Two years later, the first general-
purpose, all-electronic computer, called
the eniac computer (from Electric Nu-
merical Integrator and Calculator),
was built.

eniac was the grandfather of today’s
electronic brains, room-size robots who
answer to the unlikely names as univac,

STRETCH, MANIAC, UNICALL, MINIVAC,

seac, and bizmac.

What kinds of
computers are there?

There are two basic types of computers

in use today
— analogue
and digital.
While they are very unlike in their con-
struction, operation and use, both deter-
mine a given amount or quantity. The
analogue type determines its quantity by
measurement of how much while the
digital type determines its quantity by
counting how many.

An analogue computer is usually built

to be an anal-

What is an , .

analogue computer? W ,°[ 3 P^ 81 '

cal likeness of

the problem that it is designed to solve.
It may work, however, with physical
quantities far different from those con-
nected with the problem it is solving.
Usually the answers are recorded on a
calibrated scale, traced on a graph by a
pen, indicated on a plotting board, or
shown on a dial. An analogue computer
is generally designed to solve a single
problem, or a specific class of problems.

There are many common uses for
simple analogue devices. One example
is the automobile speedometer. It
changes the rate of turning of the
wheel’s axle into a numerical value of
speed in terms of miles per hour. As we
know, the faster the automobile’s axle
turns, the higher the speed we read on
the speedometer. In this case, we are
interested in the speed of the vehicle
rather than how fast the axle is turning.
But, the analogy or physical quantity of
this speed is the axle turning. Slide rules,
thermometers, clocks, and weight scales
are examples of this type of computer.

Many primitives, Having advanced from fingercount-
ing, used pebbles as counters. Peruvian Incas used
knotted ropes called quipus for counting.

The early abacus was
nothing but pebbles in
grooves in the sand.

1 1 1 i ■ 1 1

The Roman abacus was made of
metal, and small balls were used in
each column.

While the abacus has had many shapes and different
names, depending on when and where it was used,
its basic operation remains unchanged. It has indi-
vidual columns with beads or marbles. The columns
are arranged in the numeral position or decimal sys-
tem used in the ancient Near East. Let’s look at the
earliest, the counting board of the Babylonian trad-
ers: three rows of pebbles; no column can have more
than 9 pebbles. Let’s add 263 to 349. First set up
the pebbles to indicate 263: 2 hundreds, 6 tens and

3 units. Now add pebbles to signify 349: 3 hundreds,

4 tens and 9 units. Since no column can have more
than 9 pebbles, move the pebbles over from right to
left and you have as result 6 hundreds, 1 ten and
2 units, or 612.

A few years ago, a Chinese-American bookkeeper
with an abacus won a race against an electronic
calculating machine.

The Pascal adding machine of 1642 (above) and
Burroughs (below) were only steppingstones to the
modern “miracles.”

The beads above the crossbar on a Chinese abacus
are called quints and count 5 each when pushed
down to the bar; the beads below count 1 each when
pushed up to the bar. Each wire strung with beads
is called a column and represents one column of
figures in the decimal system. The figure shown in
the abacus above left is: 27,503,040.

“How far” and “How fast?” are two questions answered by two kinds of analogue computers
in your car, the “odometer” that gives the mileage you have driven and the “speedometer”
that gives the approximate speed you are driving. Their working is relatively easy: it is
established how many turns the wheel of your car has to make to roll a mile and a special
flexible shaft is installed to transmit the number of wheel revolutions to a counter on your
dashboard. The counter, which is a series of little wheels with numbers from 0 to 9, is con-
structed in such a way that, when one little wheel turns around once completely, it clicks the
neighboring wheel over one number. In this way all units of miles are registered. The
speedometer works on the same flexible shaft as the odometer, only here the turning of the
wheel of the car creates magnetic fi&l&U* As you see in our r illustration, the speedometer con-
sists of a disk (mostly aluminum). A pointer ts attached to the disk with a wirespring that tends
to pull the. pointer towards zero. As we already said, a permanent magnet attached to the
flexible shaft turns faster when the car goes faster, and creates a magnetic field in the aluminum
disk, which will tend to turn the disk and pointer away from zero. The faster the car goes, the
stronger the pull, and the farther the pointer will point away from zero.

MAGNET

While these examples of analogue
computers are quite simple ones, this
type is also used for many complex pur-
poses. The electronic kind, for in-
stance, is used for navigation, missile
guidance and anti-aircraft fire control.
The latter, called gun director com-
puters, are used to aim and fire guns at
hostile planes. If you have ever tried
to shoot a rifle at a moving target, you
can imagine the complexity of a com-
puter required to aim a gun and hit a-
hostile plane above 40,000 feet in the
air and traveling at speeds better than
600 miles per hour. No human being
can solve all the calculations — speed
of the wind, direction of the plane, how
fast it is going, etc. — quickly enough
to do this job, but an electronic ana-
logue computer can do it with ease.

The fuel gauge of an automobile is another example
of an analogue computer. It indicates what propor-
tion of the tank is filled with gasoline.

Digital computers are the most widely

used computing

What is a , , ,

.. . 4 . . 0 robots today, be-

aigital computer? J ’

cause they are a
great deal more accurate and will do
more types of work than the analogue
types. The digital computers do not
measure; they count. They owe their
name to the counting number on our
ten fingers or digits. Because we have
10 digits instead of twelve, or six, or
eight, most computation is based on the
familiar decimal system: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, and 9.

The simplest digital computer that
we have is our fingers. Problems can be
solved by counting them. A more com-
plex digital computer with which we are
familiar is the desk calculator. This
machine can do everything — add, sub-
tract, multiply and divide.

The modern automatic electronic
digital computer, often called a data-
processing system, can carry out a long
series of arithmetical and logical opera-
tions on the basis of instructions given it
at the start of the problem. Logical op-
erations include such work as sorting,
selecting, comparing, and matching var-
ious kinds of information.

How a Computer Works

All modern digital computers have three basic steps in their operation.
Information or data must be fed into the computer — input. The
information must be rearranged and solved in an orderly way —
processing. The answer or solution must be fed back to the inquirer in an
understandable form — output.

Our picture shows an IBM computer (in the background) which is fed with information prepared by a tape
punch (center left). Samples of the punched tape are on top and bottom.

What is meant
by input?

As with the other robots you read about
earlier, a human be-
ing must give the
computer complete
instructions before it can solve any
problem or do any work. A set of such
instructions is called a program and is
prepared by a man or woman called a
programmer. It is his or her job to study
the given problem, lay out a plan for its
solution, and present the plan to the
computer, together with all the neces-
sary instructions as to how to use it.
Without the programmer, the computer
would be useless.

The program may be fed into the
input portion of the computer in several
ways — through punched or tab cards,
punched or perforated tape, magnetic

tape (the most popular method),, or 01$
paper inscribed with special magnetic
ink. The input information may be of
a scientific, commercial, statistical, or
engineering nature.

The processing operation is carried on

“ within the computer

What is meant . ir ^

. . . itself. By using its

by processing? °

various parts or ele-
ments, the computer calculates, sorts,
matches, compares, and selects until it
arrives at the desired answer to the
problem given it.

While this processing operation is go-
ing on, the entire procedure is checked
by a man, called the operator, at the
computer’s control panel. It is his duty
to make sure that the computer is func-

tioning in the proper manner. He can
start and stop the computer and regu-
late its activity. He can send in new
instructions or corrections given to him
by the programmer, and can test various
parts of the computer to see if they are
working normally.

by output?

After doing its work, the computer gives

its answer back to

What is meant .

the programmer.

The results may be
punched into cards or tape, or recorded
on magnetic tape like the tape used on
a home recorder. The programmer can
then translate the machine’s answer to
data for all who are interested. Many
of the newer computers have printing
devices that take the machine’s output
and change it into a printed report form
easily understood by all. These printers,
as they are called, make it unnecessary
for programmers to interpret computer
answers.

What is the
computer’s logic?

One of the hardest points to understand

about the opera-
tion of a computer
is how it can make
a logical decision. When we come to a
logical decision of a problem, we do so
by a process of thinking or reasoning.
We search our memories or look into
books for the facts on the subject and

make our decision based on these facts.
While a computer cannot think or rea-
son as we do, it reaches its logical deci-
sions from the facts given to it by its
programmer.

Possibly the simplest example of a
computer-like system is the ordinary
light switch. The problem in this case
is: When the switch is closed, are all
conditions present for the bulb to
light? The conditions are such facts as
whether or not the electric current is on,
the light bulb good, the room properly
wired, etc. If the answer is “yes” to all
the conditions, the bulb will light when
the switch is turned on. The computer
system, in effect, will be giving its logi-
cal answer based on the fact that all
conditions are present for the bulb to
light when the signal is given.

Another example of a computer-type
device is the automatic toll collector
that we see on many parkways, turn-

The automatic toll collector is a
computer-type device. It makes
“logical decisions” as to whether
the proper amount of money has
been deposited.

....

pikes and bridges. This device has the
responsibility of making a logical deci-
sion as to whether or not the proper
amount of money has been deposited by
the driver to pay the toll.

Let us assume that a 100 toll is to be
collected by the computer. This pay-
ment can be paid by depositing: one
dime; two nickels; one nickel and five
pennies; or ten pennies. The automatic
toll collector will receive its input (the
coins) and process them. It will then
make its logical decision based on the
fact as to whether or not the payment
by the driver is sufficient. If the answer
is “yes,” the device will indicate to the
driver that he may go ahead. However,
if the computer reaches the logical deci-
sion that insufficient money has been
deposited, it will flash a “stop” signal
and will sound an alarm so that the
guards are immediately notified of its
negative decision.

Although most digital computers cost

thousands of

What do you , „

, , .... dollars, you can

need to build , ,

a simple computer? build one that

will answer “yes”

or “no” to simple questions for less than
a dollar. Here is what you need: two
mechanical switches, a flashlight bat-
tery, a flashlight bulb and some wire.
Remember, this is going to be a very
simple computer. But it may surprise
you all the same.

You can build a simple computer that will help you
to understand the difficult subject of the working of
-* electronic brains.

As a computer designer, your problem

is this: with the parts
How will . , i .1 i

._ named above, build a

computer that will give
a recognizable signal when both of two
necessary conditions are fulfilled. You
can consider the light bulb as the output
of the computer, and the switches, each
of which you may open or close by
hand, as the inputs.

When the parts are properly con-
nected, the computer will cause the bulb
to light up, signalling, “Yes, both con-
ditions are fulfilled.” When the bulb is
dark, the computer is saying, “No, both
conditions are not fulfilled.”

How does the
computer give
the answers?

You have probably already figured this
out. Connect the
switches with the
battery and bulb as
shown in figure 1. In *
this way, both switches must be closed
for the bulb to light up. When only one
switch is closed or when both are open,
the bulb will be dark. Simple? Yes. But
when you consider the logical opera-
tions performed by this computer, they
are really quite impressive:

It accepts information as input (the
switches are open or closed).

It makes a decision based on the
input (are both switches closed?).

It takes action based on this decision
(either the bulb lights or remains
unlit).

By rearranging the switches, you can
build a computer that will decide
automatically whether either of the
switches are closed, and will light the
bulb signalling, “Yes, at least one of the
two possible conditions has been ful-
filled.” (Fig. 2.)

By combining the two circuits or ar-
rangements, you can make a computer
that will have four inputs and one
output and will answer this question:
Are inputs one and two present? If they
are, is either input three or input four
present?” Having examined the inputs
and found the answers to these two

questions, the computer will go on to
decide: “If the answer to both of
these questions is ‘yes,’ light the bulb.”
Fig. 3 shows how you would wire this
computer.

By this time the computer is doing a
job of deciding that might actually be
useful, and doing it a good deal faster
than you could. If you do not believe
this, build it and try to beat it.

Slightly more complicated arrange-
ments of switches can be made to pro-
duce an output only when one input is
present and the other is not. It is pos-
sible, by interconnecting circuits each
of which does one logical operation, to
create arrangements capable of answer-
ing all sorts of difficult questions. Com-
puter kits that contain all the parts and
drawings to make such arrangements
are available at radio supply stores.

Instead of mechanical switches and
flashlight bulbs, the modern computer
uses much more rapid electronic devices
for switching and registering, such as
vacuum tubes, transistors and magnetic
cores. But the idea is the same as the
computer just described.

The Elements of a Modern Computer

The modern electronic computer is not really a single piece of
equipment but a series of five closely related parts or elements, each of
which must function smoothly with the other four for the system to be
useful. These five elements are: input, storage, arithmetic, control and
output.

You are already familiar with two of these elements, the input and the
output. If you were to see a real computer in action, you could watch the
input-output equipment functioning, carrying information to the system
and answers to the programmer. In our simple computer, the input is
actually supplied by the movement of your hand, which opens or closes
the two switches. Output is the flashlight bulb that lights up to signal
“yes,” stays dark when the answer to the question is “no.”

The switches themselves perform an ex-

. . . tremely important

Where is the - ...

. function in the

storage element?

computing circuit.
They store the input, making it avail-
able to the computer throughout the
process of computation. They store the
information as to whether or not they
are closed, since open means, “no in-
put,” and closed means, “input.” You
may never see the storage unit in a real
computer since it is placed in a metal
cabinet. But its function is exactly the
same: it stores input in a form usable
by the computer, and holds it ready for
immediate use at any time during its
operation.

In modern computers, the storage
element also serves as a “memory” and
information can be internally stored
in the system by electro-mechanical,
magnetic, or electronic devices, until
needed. Stored information is readily
available, can be referred to once or
many times, and can also be replaced

whenever desired. The data memorized
by this element can be original informa-
tion, reference tables, or instructions.

Parts of a digital computer and their functions.

INPUT-OUTPUT AND INPUT-OUTPUT AND

SECONDARY STORAGE STORAGE AND PROCESSING SECONDARY STORAGE

Actual arrangement and location of the various vital parts of a digital computer.

Each storage location is identified by
an individual location number which is
called an address. By means of these
numerical addresses, the programmer
can locate information and instructions
as needed during the course of a prob-
lem. In other words, when the program-
mer wishes to take information out of
the storage element he does not specify
the data itself, but only its address. He
knows that the information he wants is
stored at that address because he him-
self stored it there earlier.

Actually the memory unit of the com-
puter can be compared with a library,
which stores books, just as the memory
stores data. Each book in the library is
given a code number, just as each bit
of information in the memory elements
receives a number. These book numbers
permit the librarian to quickly find any
book stored in the library without read-
ing the titles on the books, just as the
address permits the programmer to lo-
cate any data in the memory unit.

The speed of processing largely de-
pends on the access time — the length
of time required to obtain a number
from storage and make it available to
other elements of the computer system.

The element of the computer that

does the actual

What element does , c

, x . _ work of compu-
the computation? ,

tation is called
the arithmetic element. In our com-
puter, this element is composed of the
switches, wires, and battery. In most
useful computers, the arithmetic ele-
ment can add, subtract, multiply, di-
vide, and compare numbers in a manner
similar to a desk calculator, but at light-
ning speed. Complex calculations are
always combinations of these basic op-
erations. The arithmetic element also
can make logical or reasoning decisions.

In most modern computers, the stor-
age unit is completely separate from the
arithmetic element, though connected
to it. By sending electric currents back

and forth between themselves, these ele-
ments are able to communicate; the
storage sends information to the arith-
metic element for processing, and the
arithmetic unit sends back the proc-
essed information to storage.

How do all
the elements
work together?

The lines of communication between
the storage and
arithmetic elements
in our model com-
puter are fixed. In
more complicated circuits or networks,
however, there may be a number of
alternative paths between storage and
arithmetic elements: One path could
lead to a network whose sole function
was to add two numbers; another to a
network which did nothing but com-
pare the sizes of two numbers, and so
forth. To decide which of these paths
should be used each time a connection
is made between the storage and arith-
metic units, the computer has a control
element.

The control unit in the computer can
be compared with a railroad switch-
yard control tower. There are many
possible directions that the switching
engine can be routed, but the man in the
control tower pulls the proper levers to
get it on the proper track so that it
reaches its desired destination. In the
computer, the control element, under
instructions from the programmer,
makes the necessary switch connections
throughout the system so that the data
can follow its proper path to reach the
desired destination. Because of the
speed required in routing information,
the switching mechanism in modern
computers, properly called the auto-

matic sequence control unit, is an elec-
tronic device rather than a mechanical
one as it is in the railroad control tower.

How does a
computer compare with
other methods of
solving problems?

Now that you know the purpose of the

various parts
of a com-
puter, let us
compare
their func-
tioning to the steps needed in solving a
problem by paper and pencil methods.

The input would correspond to the in-
formation given in the problem. The
arithmetic element performs the same
function as our manual calculations.

Storage may be compared to the work
papers on which we note intermediate
answers. A knowledge of arithmetic
rules controls our handling of the prob-
lem and our answers provide an output.

The control unit of a computer is like a railroad control tower.

A Language for the Computer

The gap between man and machine is bridged by a language that is
understandable to both. This language makes the operation of the
computer possible. Fortunately for computer designers, a language that
combines the utmost simplicity of writing with complete generality of
expression was already available when the first large-scale, electronic
computer was designed and built. The language, known as the binary
number system, was originally used to represent and handle numbers only.
But during the development of the truly general purpose computer, it has
been expanded so that it will now handle letters and symbols as well.

What is the binary
number system?

Binary (bi means two) uses only two

symbols, 1 and
0, rather than
the ten decimal
numbers (0 — 9), and the twenty-six
letters we normally use. The machine
finds this system simple. You will too.

As you can see in the chart on page
23, the decimal numbers are compared
with the corresponding binary symbols.
Notice that shifting a decimal number
one place to the left multiplies its value
by ten, whereas shifting a binary num-
ber one position to the left multiplies its
value by two. Thus, the symbol 1 in the
binary system can be used to represent
one, two, four, eight, or sixteen, depend-
ing on its position or place.

Let us use the binary system to do some

actual counting. To

How do you . « „ •

. ;. represent zero in

count in the , , r , , , _

binary system? the s y mbo1 0

is used. “One” is

shown as 1, as in the decimal system.

To show “two,” when both available

symbols already have been used we

use some combination of the two. For

example, the combination 1 0 can stand
for “two.” “Three” is 11. For “four,”
we must use three digits: 10 0. “Five”
becomes 10 1; “six” 110; “seven,”
1 1 1. We must add a fourth digit for
“eight,” which is 1 0 0 0. “Nine” is
10 0 1, and so forth.

Whereas the binary system suits
computers, it is not nearly so practical
for ordinary numerical problems as the
decimal system because more digits are
required to express numbers. For exam-
ple, the number “thirty-nine” can be
indicated in the decimal system by only
two digits: a 3 and 9. Six digits would
be needed in the binary system: “thirty-
nine” would be written 10 0 1 1 1 . The
large number 1 0000000000 in the
binary system stands for “one thousand

THIS

NUMBER-?

DECIMAL SYSTEM

4 4 4 4

4x1000 4x100 4x10 4x1

means-? 4,000 + 400 + 40 + 4 === 4,444

BINARY SYSTEM

2 4

2 s

2’

2 1

2°

SIXTEENS

EIGHTS

FOURS

TWOS

ONES

2x2x2x2

2x2x2

2x2

DECIMAL

EQUIVALENT

twenty-four.” The same number in the
decimal system is expressed by four
digits ( 1 ,024 ) . But, with modern com-
puters, it does not matter how many

digits are used to indicate numbers be-
cause of the lightning speed at which
these machines operate.

The modern computers can store
many digits in their memory units, too.
Early ones were considered marvels if
they had internal storage capacity for
1,000 decimal digits. New machines
routinely store the equivalent of more
than 320,000 decimal digits, while the
more powerful computers have provi-
sions for internal storage of more than
one and a half million decimal digits,
each available on command from the
programmer in little more than 2 mil-
lionths of a second.

How are decimal
numbers changed
to binary symbols?

The programmer might be able to

change or trans-
late the entire
contents of a
problem into a bi-
nary notation by hand. But it is a good
bet that he would have a headache when
he was finished. Fortunately, machines
have been designed to accept decimal
numbers and can change them to the
binary system.

These machines, which look and op-
erate like ordinary typewriters, can also
translate the letters of an alphabet into
the binary system and they do the entire
job automatically. As fast as the infor-
mation can be typed in on the keyboard
— the keys of which are marked with
Arabic numerals and English letters —
the machine translates it into a pattern
of binary ones and zeros onto cards or
tape, which is fed into the computer. In
addition to being faster than the “by-
hand” method, it is a good deal more

accurate, since the automatic translator
almost never makes a mistake.

The answer from the computer’s out-
put is also received on cards or tape and
fed through another translator that
will deliver the desired information to
the programmer in decimal numbers
and English letters. Sometimes a unit
"called a high-speed printer is used. This
senses and prints whole lines of infor-
mation at a time, instead of individual
characters, working at the rate of more
than 1 ,000 lines a minute.

Can the binary
system give
other answers?

The binary system can be made to cor-
respond to the con-
ditions of an electric
or electronic circuit
— on or off. Using
the principle of the switch, the “on”
condition may represent “1,” and “off”
may represent “0.” The binary number
10 0 1 1 1, equivalent to the decimal
number 39, would appear:

on off off

Because electronic circuits are used, a

ELECTRICAL CONTACT
THROUGH HOLE

STRANDED COPPER WIRE BRUSH

METAL ROLLER WITH
ELECTRICAL CURRENT

HOLES CARRY
INFORMATION

Today, the Card Punch combines
efficiency and speed with simplicity
and ease of operation. A movable
typewriter-like keyboard allows the
operator to punch numerical and al-
phabetical data smoothly and rapidly.

The earliest card punch-
ing machines were
hand operated. Facts
were punched into each
card according to a
definite pattern. A pre-
arranged code as-
signed a particular
meaning to each sepa-
rate position of the
hole in the card.

The punched holes in the card repre-
sent the information with which the
computer has to work. The metal roller
carries the electrical current. The elec-
trical circuit is closed by the copper
wire brushes when the punched hole
is between the brush and roller.

—

■

■ j

—

All systems “go” was the command given by the computers for the launching of the astronauts.

vast chain of binary digits can be ex-
pressed and tabulated at very, very
great speeds.

The binary numerals can also repre-
sent logical conditions such as “yes”
(binary 1) or “no” (binary 0), “right”
(binary 1) or “wrong” (binary 0).
Hence, the modern computer, by using
the binary, can make simple decisions
about complex questions. For exam-
ple, in Colonel Glenn’s manned orbital
flight, it was a computer that gave the
“go” signal that everything was fine
aboard during the launching of the
space capsule.

For the computer to reach this all-
important logical decision, the program-
mer fed into the machine beforehand
such information as the proper speed
and direction of the rocket, desired
flight characteristics, Glenn’s proper
breathing and heartbeat rate, plus over
40,000 other bits of vital data. This
information was stored in the memory

element. Then when the actual launch-
ing took place, all the information from
the rocket and about the astronaut’s
condition were fed into the computer
and compared with the data already
stored there. In less than 30 seconds,
the computer had to make its recom-
mendation. No man or group of men
could make this important decision so
fast; but the computer gave its answer
by simply causing a bulb to light up on
its front panel, signalling, “Yes, all con-
ditions are fulfilled for a safe launching
of the space capsule.”

Can machines out-think the men who

build them? Is it

Can an electronic . c

brain “think?" P OSSlMe for 3
computer to come

up with a new idea? Are we in danger of

being overrun by electronic brains

whose actions may not do as we wish?

If you build the computer described
earlier, you will see that it operates only

on information you give it. Computers
can not “think.” They do no more than
you tell them to do. If you feed yours
incorrect information, it will give you
incorrect answers. In addition, you must
tell it exactly what to do, step by step.
Bluntly, a computer does not have an
ounce of imagination.

How are problems
given to a computer?

As you have read earlier, a programmer

must organize
and restate
the problem
in terms that a computer can under-
stand. One technique used by pro-
grammers is to prepare flow or block
diagrams. These diagrams arrange the
steps of a process in order and show how
the steps are related to one another.
They aid memory and force precise
thinking. They show the computer how
to solve a problem.

For instance, how do you get to
school in the morning? A flow diagram
of this problem might be the one given
in Fig. 1 . This may be enough for you,
but it is not detailed enough for a com-
puter. Your mind makes connections
readily. It fills in gaps from past experi-
ence. Computers need a simple, step-
by-step plan with complete instructions,
such as shown here in Fig. 2.

Programmers also use many mathe-
matical techniques. One method,
symbolic logic, involves representing
statements logically by mathematical
equations. This system makes it possible
to change logical statements in the same
way that you work with algebraic equa-
tions in your mathematics class. It is
named Boolean Algebra after its inven-
tor, George Boole. Computer men also

use the theory of probability and com-
plicated techniques such as Monte
Carlo simulation, matrix algebra, and
multiple regression. These complex
mathematical solutions are too difficult
to explain in this book. As a matter of
fact, many mathematicians did not use
them prior to the introduction of com-
puters because of the time required
to solve problems by following these
techniques.

Programmers sometime develop
mathematical models of real situations
or processes. Here is an extremely sim-
ple example:

COST OF APPLES IN DOLLARS =
$0.10 X NUMBER OF APPLES
This equation is a “model” of an actual
buying situation. It predicts the cost of
any number of apples. No apples need
ever be purchased in order to get an-
swers. All aspects of this limited situa-
tion can be explored without spending
a cent.

In actual practice, the preparation of
mathematical models is a complex,
exacting, and time-consuming job. It
requires a thorough knowledge and un-
derstanding of the problem or process
under study. Programmers often spend
weeks, even months, observing and
studying before they begin the mathe-
matical model for which a final program
will be prepared.

A flow diagram of “How do you get to school in the
morning?" as stated above would be enough for
you, but not for the machine. The flow diagram on
page 27 would be more to the machine’s “liking."

HOW TO GET TO SCHOOL IN THE MORNING

SET

ALARM

TURN

OFF

ALARM

NOTE THAT IN THIS DIAGRAM RECTANGLES ARE USED TO
INDICATE EITHER CALCULATIONS OR THE TRANSFER OF INFOR-
MATION. DIAMONDS ARE USED FOR SIMPLE YES-NO DECI-
SIONS. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MACHINE ARE ALSO INCLUDED.

TURN

LIGHT

YES

GROAN

TURN

OVER

CRAWL

OUT

IS IT
DARK?

YES

GET BACK
IN BED

DEAD END

GRUMBLE

»* SK?

BELOW
70 °?

CHORES

BREAKFAST

DID I

• WALK THE
DOG?

YES

HAVING NO
TEST , w '
TODAY?

J YES

PRETEND

ILLNESS

.CONVINCE

MOTHER?

I YES

GET BACK
IN BED

DEAD END

WALK
OUT
DOOR

I GO BACK

GET BOOKS

FORGET YES I

BOOKS?

| NO

GET ON
SCHOOL
BUS

ARRIVE

SCHOOL

How can you
become a programmer?

No one can give you a good answer to

this question.
The profes-
sion is so
new, and is changing so fast, that the
most practical approach is to look at
what a programmer must be.

First, he must be a language expert.
The languages he uses are not all spo-
ken languages like English, French, or
Spanish. Some are universal languages,
understood by scientists and technical
people the world over. These are math-
ematics and the language of reasoning
or logic. Maybe you do not think of
mathematics as a language, but it is. It
is one means used by men of science
to communicate with each other.

A programmer must know these four
languages:

1. His native tongue.

The language of the flow or block
diagram.

The language of logic or reason.
The language of the specific com-
puter with which he is working.
This includes the codes of let-
ters, binary digits, or combina-
tions of them.

2 .

3 .

4 .

In addition, the programmer must be
able to study, analyze, and plan prob-
lems so that he can reduce them into
the small, simple parts a computer can
handle. Thus, a person with a business
or engineering college degree or a back-
ground in mathematics may be the most
successful candidate for a career in
computer programming.

Putting the Computer to Work

Though computers have been in use for only a decade or so, they
have already influenced the lives of millions of people. It would be
impossible to list all the jobs that we are handing over to this marvelous
machine. Programmers are finding new applications for it each day. While
many uses have already been given, here are a few more ways to keep
robots with electronic brains busy.

Computers are the

How are computers
valuable for
national defense?

“brains” of our
national defense
system. A ballis-
tics missile in
flight, for exam-
ple, must be in exactly the right position
at the proper speed when its motor is
turned off — an error of one foot per
second in speed can cause a several mile
miss at the point of impact. As the mis-
sile leaves its launching pad, it sends
radio signals back to the computer on
the ground, informing it about changes
in wind, temperature, effect of gravity,
and many more important facts. The
computer figures the effect of these
varying factors and instantly flashes in-
structions to keep the missile on its
proper course. When it reaches its cor-
rect speed, the computer turns off the
motor and the missile coasts at about
14,000 miles an hour to its target. No

Computers are the “heart element” of the North
American Air Defense Command.

human being could possibly work with
the speed and accuracy required by this
complex operation.

Computers are also the “heart ele-
ment” of the North American Air
Defense Command. These computers
evaluate the great amount of informa-
tion represented by the flight paths of
all the airplanes in the air at one time
over the United States and Canada.
Working hand in hand with our radar
system, they keep the military services
informed by immediately identifying all
planes and rockets that are in flight.
This, of course, reduces the chances of
an attack by hostile aircraft and rockets.

Computers for payroll register: This horizontal row
of 132 electronically timed hammers taps paper-
forms against an inked ribbon and a fast-moving
endless chain of type in an output printer of a data
processing system. It prints numbers and letters at a
basic speed of 600 lines a minute and, if it is oper-
ated to print numbers alone, can do it at a rate of
1 ,285 lines a minute.

How do business
and industry
use

Computers perform numerous jobs

in the field of
business. They

computers? have freed em P lo y-
ees from the drudg-
ery of the routine paper work of
accounting, billing, figuring out various
taxes, making out pay checks, keeping
inventories, etc. Publishing companies
use computers to keep track of maga-
zine subscriptions.

Business and industry also use com-
puters to help in making decisions. For
example, an oil company deciding
where to build service stations, can feed
a computer all the factors involved in
the decision, such as traffic flow and real
estate costs. The machine will produce a
decision or the alternate decisions most
worthy of investigation.

Computers are keeping track of thou-
sands of ships in

How are computers . A , • ,

. . . , the Atlantic and

used to aid sea

and air travel? Paclflc oceans

so that the

United States Coast Guard can rush

help instantly if a ship is in dis-
tress. Ship positions are stored on the
machines’ memory sections, enabling
Coast Guardsmen to select the ves-
sels nearest an emergency without
changing the courses of other ships un-
necessarily.

To assist with the planning of airline
flights, a computer prepares what might
be called “a master flight plan” for each
flight. Weather information, informa-
tion as to the number of passengers, fuel
loads, take-off and landing weights, and
other data are fed into the machine.
The computer then analyzes all data
and calculates the ideal routes, alti-
tudes, etc., in the terms of these condi-
tions. In this way pilots have a “master
plan” to follow in their final flight plan-
ning. Using this information, the air-
line’s captain and dispatcher determine
the “final plan.”

Computers are also being installed in
some of our giant jet aircraft. With the
use of such planes, the margin of safety
• available to a pilot during a take-off
has been decreased greatly. The amount

of power and the increased speed re-
quirements of take-off have greatly
reduced the time available for the pilot
to study his take-off progress and to
make his decisions. Thus, the computer
on board, with its lightning action, can
be very valuable to the pilot during this
critical operation.

The role of the computer in the hospital

of the future can

How can computers , , . ^

. , . . - be a big one. For

help our doctors? ® ,

instance, the

computer can store and interpret medi-
cal knowledge gathered within the past
50 years. Medical science has collected
a tremendous amount and complexity of
published information. Most of this is
doomed to storage on some dusty
library shelf unless a method more rapid
than human skill can make it available
for quick reference. By using a central-
ized electronic brain to store existing
knowledge on disease symptoms and
treatment, a doctor can “feed” the
symptoms into the computer and await
an answer advising treatment. Regard-

Would you believe it, when you saw it in a science
fiction picture? The data transmission unit above
enables computers to hold direct two-way telegraph
or telephone “conversations.” Or, to put it a little
more specifically: the computer can send business or
scientific information any distance directly from its
magnetic memory to the storage of another com-
puter. Here the operator dials the office across the
country to make a connection for data transmission.

Computers handle nu-
merous jobs to ease the
drudgery of officework,
in aiding the safety of
sea and air travel, and
in giving help to the
medical science and
other fields.

less of the powers of these machines,
however, doctors still will be a very
necessary part of the medical diagnosis.
Some patients and some diseases just do
not respond to impersonal treatment
from either a doctor or a machine. This
human need for personal contact is
what makes the practice of medicine an
art as well as a profession.

Each year, millions of reports on scien-
tific research are

How does a , , . , . .

, published — a large

computer become r °

a translator? percentage of them

in foreign lan-
guages. In this mass of Russian, Ger-
man, Dutch, and Italian data are clues to
interplanetary flight, H-power, longer-

wearing auto tires, more powerful bat-
teries. The trouble is that too few of
our scientists and engineers read foreign
languages. To overcome this difficulty,
computers have been put to work trans-
lating these scientific publications.

To do translations, every word in a
sizable English dictionary is listed on
tape under a code number or address.
The French, German, or Russian equiv-
alents for each word are given the same
number or address. Then, to translate
from French to English, for example, a
tape with the French code numbers is
fed into the machine, which matches
the numbers and prints out the English.
Some human editing to rearrange awk-
ward word sequences is needed, but a

KACHYESTVO UGLYA OPRYEDYELY AYETSYA KALQRY I YNGSTJYU

III I II II I I I I II

I I I III I I III II I

i 111 nun i mu i i i i hi ilium i i ii iiiiiii

THE QUALITY
CALORY CONTENT

COAL

IS DETERMINED

The electronic brains have made another dent in the
“language barrier.” Here (at left) sentences in Rus-
sian are punched into cards that will be fed into
an electronic data processing machine for transla-
tion into English.

The card (below) is-punched with a sample Russian
language sentence (as interpreted at the top of the
card) in standard punched-card code. It is then ac-
cepted by the computer, converted into its own
binary language and translated by means of stored
dictionary programs into the English language equiv-
alent, which is then printed.

Above, specimen punched-card and, below it, a strip with translation.

The match made by a computer on a television pro-
gram was not one of the “robot's” big successes.

computer can make over a thousand
translations in a day.

Computers are helping to break lan-
guage barriers in other ways. Compu-
ters, for example, are rapidly translating
English text into Braille in order to
speed the production of reading mate-
rial for the blind. Recently, an ex-
tremely accurate and thorough Biblical
Concordance was produced by a com-
puter, which “read” the whole Bible
through, sorted and cross-indexed se-
lected key words, and printed out the
results automatically — an entire book
written by the computing system.

A computer, of course, gives wrong

answers if given
wrong informa-
tion. One experi-
ment with the decision-making ability

Does an electronic
brain ever fail?

of computers was a failure. A television
quiz program used a computer to select
the ideal wife for a contestant. To ac-
complish this, the programmer fed into
the machine all facts known for a per-
fect marriage — likes and dislikes,
interests in various hobbies, movies,
music, food, etc. When the computer
compared the qualifications of many
women with those of the male contes-
tant, it recommended one as ideal. But,
when the two got to know each other,
they decided they were mismatched and
should not marry each other. Whose
fault was this? The machine program-
mer’s? Perhaps it only proves that even
a computer cannot understand a
woman’s mind.

The Learning Machine

A science fiction story of some years back concerned a robot that
revolted against its human masters and refused to work. The reason,
eventually discovered, was that the machine did not like being turned
off each night — in effect, killed — as a reward for its hard day’s labors.
So after that, the electric wall plug was left in all the time and both the
robot and men hummed along merrily forever after.

Can a robot
learn?

As you have read, there is no machine
that can “think.” But,
there are robots that
are capable of learn-
ing. Learning, as we know it, is the
process by which knowledge or a skill
is acquired, a process which requires
attention and direction of efforts. It is
often a trial-and-error method. A
teacher can speed up the learning proc-
ess by directing the learning effort and
thereby decreasing the number of trials.
The learning machine matches many of
the characteristics exhibited by the
human learning process. For instance,
the learning process in man is known to
require repetition in order to effect the

storage of new ideas. Remember when
you learned the alphabet? You did so
by repeating A, B, C, D, E, F . . . time
and time again until you learned the
complete alphabet correctly. This pro-
cedure of repetition is necessary for the
learning machine to “learn,” too.

The learning robot is not a computer

and is not de-

How does the , , ,

. . signed to work on

learning machine °

"learn?” speedy calcula-

tions or work log-
ically from step-by-step formulas fed in
by programmers. Instead, it tackles
problems for which no formula is
known. It figures out its own method of

5 The “robot-secretary” — the
M computer at left is designed to
I recognize all American speech
sounds and, when spoken to
through a microphone, type
out what it has “heard.”

The learning machine above, if it does not catch on to new lessons, has
its “goof" button pushed for “punishment.” This causes the machine to
re-evaluate decisions and change the “memory.” The tapes in the back-
ground contain lessons on various subjects, including the quite complicated
analysis of sonar and cardiograms.

attack, supplies the answer, and can
explain how it arrived at the answer.

The learning machine works by trial
and error. Like a human, it relates new
situations to its past “experiences,” get-
ting smarter all the time in problem
solving. Also like people, it learns
through pain and pleasure. (When you
were younger, you learned by experi-
ence not to touch a hot stove by the
“pain” of a burn and learned the reward
of doing something correctly by the
“pleasure” of receiving candy or being
praised.) When the machine makes a
mistake, its human teacher pushes a
“goof” button, forcing it to do the pkpb-

While it is difficult for a human operator to dis-
tinguish between the blips caused by an airplane
and those caused by birds, the learning machine,
when once taught, will function flawlessly.

The learning machine has proved its

worth in analyz-

How are learning ,.

machines used? ,n S Card, °* ramS
— electronic trac-
ings of heartbeats — and radar echoes.
In the latter example, a critical problem
is the need to train radar operators to
tell the difference between true target
echoes and false ones. Thus, a coastal
defense radar station needs to be able
to distinguish instantly an enemy plane
or rocket from a flock of homecoming
seagulls. Normally it takes months for
a human to acquire the skill to tell what
the different “blips” on the radar screen
mean. But the learning machine can
be taught the job in a very brief time
and will perform like a veteran.

A very simple application for this
robot would be to teach it to sort ap-
ples. First, the machine would be taught
in much the same way as the beginning
apple sorter just hired. The drawing on
this page shows the parts of the device.

GOOF BUTTON

EXPERT

TEACHER

■I I

;

DECISION

CYBERTRON
(LEARNING UNIT)

THRESHOLD

"SAUCE
! v ' APPLES

The apples pass by the scanners (they
work much like television cameras) on
a moving belt where the information
as to redness, softness, size, etc., is
changed into electrical signals that are
fed into an invariance unit whose job it
is to arrange these signals and informa-

-sorting machine, once properly taught,
orm to utter perfection.

tion. (The invariance unit is used,
where possible, to lessen the data han-
dling load of the learning machine.)
The apples are to be sorted into those
for eating and those for apple sauce. As
each apple is scanned, the learning ma-
chine takes action and dumps it either
into the “eating” or “sauce” bins.

An expert apple sorter in this case is
a “teacher” until the robot learns his
lessons well. Every time the machine
makes a mistake he presses the “goof”
button and the machine has to change
its “memory” slightly to take that fact
into consideration and correct its future
action. After each error, the machine
gets a little better at the task of sorting
apples and after a short time, becomes
almost perfect. The learning machine
has many other uses in factories, too.

■

The Teaching Machine

Machines play chess, compose beautiful music, do difficult
mathematical problems, and have shown that they can learn from
experience. We also have machines that teach.

If your school does not already have

teaching ma-

What does a teaching . .

machine look like? chineS ’ >'° U

may not have

seen one. These robots are rather simple

looking and quite harmless. In most

THE TEACHING MACHINE
(TMI-GROLIER’S MIN./MAX.)

cases, they are just metal or plastic
boxes with two windows in them, and a
few knobs or pushbuttons here and
there.

To operate most teaching machines,
you press a button and it brings your
first question into view in one of the
windows. Then you write your answer
on the paper exposed by a small window
near the top of the machine. When you
press the button again to get the correct
answer, a shield covers your answer,
making it impossible to change it.

Now, press the button again to get
your next question. As it appears, your
answer to the previous question slides
out of view, the shield disappears, and

Close-up of the part of the teaching machine
that contains the question and at the lower
righthand corner your answer. On the illus-
tration below it you see the next question and
your check of the answer for the previous one.

you have a clean paper area to write
on again.

The teaching machine teaches you your

lessons in the

How does a teaching

machine “teach?” same way we

teach a ma-
chine to learn. The programmer (your
teacher) puts a program (your lesson)
into the machine (the input) and you
(like the computer) process the ma-
terial. You study the question, reach
into your memory element, and come
out with the correct answer — you
hope. This, like the computer, is your
output.

By having the lesson fed to you rather
slowly and well-planned, you learn by
trial and error, just like a machine. If
you make a mistake, the teacher pushes
the “goof” button, but, unlike a ma-
chine, your punishment may be to stay
after school.

Teaching machines will not replace

teachers. But, pro-

Can machines , ,

. * . - grammed learn-

replace teachers? °

ing, as this type of
teaching is called, will help the teacher
to teach better. These machines will also

help to solve the teacher shortage by
allowing larger classes. Since pupils us-
ing these devices require little super-
vision from the teacher, she has more
time to give special help or to do other
classroom tasks.

Robots T ake Over

Robots and computers, as we have seen, are taking over more and
more jobs formerly done by man. True, men can still do everything that
these machines can do. But it takes a thousand men working a lifetime to
compute what the latest electronic brain can do in a day.

No book on robots and computers
would be complete

W * at * without mentioning the
automation? ®

word automation. Gen-
erally speaking, this term refers to a
combination of machines and electronic

devices that handle certain rapid servi-
ces or the mass production of goods.
Because modern computers are self-
regulating, they can be used to control
assembly-line production electronically.
They can also be used to perform other
factory jobs and run machinery.

To have automation, we must have ma-
chines and processes that
r^db ' S |<9 re g u l ate themselves. To
66 ° C ' do this, feedback is
needed. Feedback provides a means by
which information concerning a ma-
chine’s operation is continuously fed
back to the machine and compared with
the desired results.

One feedback device that we all are
familiar with is the thermostat found
in home heating systems. Let us assume
that the thermostat is set at 72 degrees.
When the temperature in the room is
lower than 72 degrees, the thermostat
feeds back this information to the fur-
nace. The furnace then turns on auto-

One operator on the control panel can work
the complicated operation of this steel plant.

The working of the thermostat is a typical example
of closed control, or an operation with feedback.
The three components HEATING — ROOM TEMPER-
ATURE — THERMOSTAT are connected in such a
way, that any change in one component causes a
change in the other component. You will easily un-
derstand how important this is if you visualize the
same example with no feedback, with open control:
You could have a circuit where the outside tempera-
ture causes the start and closing of the furnace. In
this case, the thermometer outside “informs” the
thermostat of the temperature. The thermostat just as
before, will start the furnace when the outside tem-
perature reaches a certain point, and it will turn off
the furnace when the outside temperature has
reached a certain degree above the starting point.
The actual room temperature however, will not be
fed back to the thermostat. This means: If it is cold
outside for a few weeks, the furnace will work, even
if you are roasting in the room.

matically. It remains on until the
thermostat feeds back the information
that the room temperature has reached
72 degrees. This turns the furnace off.
Since this process goes on continuously,
it is called closed control. Today, the
electronic computer is the “brains” of
most automation operations. It feeds
back information to the machines that
do the work just as the thermostat feeds
back the temperature data to the fur-
nace in our heating systems.

Does automation put
people out of work?

While automation may do away with

many un-
skilled or
semi-skilled
jobs, it will provide many new work
opportunities. The age of automation
will need highly trained workers who
can maintain and repair automatic ma-

chines. It will also make new professions
such as computer operators and pro-
grammers. Industry forecasters predict
that 170,000 computer programmers
will be needed in the next 10 years.

The era of robots and electronic
brains, like the machine age before it,
should bring increased leisure and

We use the word “thermostat” so easily, and we
talk about how intricate its operations are, but do
you know how it actually works? — It is a ther-
mometer of sorts in the first place. Based on the fact
that different metals expand and contract at different
temperatures, most thermostats have, as the illustra-
tion shows you, a curved metal strip which consists
of copper on one side and chromium steel on the
other side. The strip curls over in one direction when
the temperature rises, and in the other direction
when the temperature falls, because of the fact that
copper and steel react differently to the change of
temperature. The curling in one direction will close a
circuit and throw a switch that will start the furnace.
The moving in the other direction will break the cir-
cuit and throw the switch to stop the furnace-

higher standards of living for all. This
means more people will be needed as
teachers, librarians, hotel keepers, road
builders. How can you prepare for these
far-reaching effects? The answer is not
new. The answer is to stay in school
as long as you can and learn as much
as possible while you are there.

Automation in Action

In our world of speed and advanced technology, automation is no
longer just the most modern or money-saving way to do a job. In many
instances, it is fast becoming the only practical way that jobs can be done.

Computers and robots’ mechanical

hands are essen-

How is ,

.. . tial to our coun-

automation used

in communications? * r y s t e l e ph° ne

communication

system. In former times, it was nec-
essary to place telephone calls with
an operator who, in turn, had to con-
tact the party you were calling. This
sometimes took a great deal of time.
But now, with the help of these ma-
chines, over half the telephone users in
the United States can dial long distance
numbers directly. Message accounting
tapes make it possible to record auto-
matically the time of a call, how long it
lasted, the calling number and the num-
ber called.

Without automation, our telephone
system would probably break down.
Even if companies could hire enough
operators — and chances are they could
not — the cost of using a phone would
be so high that most families could not
afford one.

Other forms of communication such
as radio are using automation devices to
speed up their services. The Post Office
Department is installing automated post
offices that handle over IV 2 million
pieces of mail daily.

How is

automation used
in transportation?

If you were to travel a great deal, es-
pecially by air-
lines, you would
know of the mad-
dening mixups
and delays that can occur in getting a
reservation aboard an airplane. Once
you know how the system works, it is
not difficult to see how this could occur.

If you walk into an airline ticket office
anywhere in the United States and de-
sire a seat on a New York to Los
Angeles plane leaving at 6:30 PM on
March 19th, how does a ticket agent
know if a seat is available? The manual
procedure for finding out is rather awk-
ward. The agent has to call a central
reservation office, where the available
seats are recorded on a large black-
board. If there is a seat available, he
makes the sale and informs the person
in charge of inventory control, who then
changes the blackboard’s figures. Any-
one who has ever been left holding the
bag because 89 seats were sold on a 88-
seat plane found out that this system is
not entirely reliable.

With more than 50 million people
a year using scheduled airlanes, auto-
mation is becoming essential to a speedy
management of plane reservations. Most

The first subway train
without a motorman
had its tryout not long
ago in New York City.

American Airlines Magnetronic Reservisor enables the reservation agent to obtain immediately all data on
requested flight reservations and even a number of possibilities for alternate suggestions.

of the major airlanes are already using
special purpose computers to do the job
or are planning to install them.

Simply, the automatic reservation
system consists of a boxlike device con-
nected to a central memory unit that
transmits and records flight informa-
tion. By placing a metal plate into the
box and pushing a couple of buttons,
the ticket agent can get swift and ac-
curate information about seat reserva-
tions. The box is even equipped with a
lamp that flashes on if the electronic
brain decides that the human brain is
processing the question incorrectly.

The bus lines and railroads are also
using similar ticket reservation systems.
Some railroad and subway lines are now
replacing human engineers with auto-
matic robot engineers.

How is automation
used in industry?

Automatic controls have largely re-
placed men in
various indus-
tries in which a
break in the flow of production would
ruin the product. Petroleum and chemi-
cal plants are now completely auto-
matic, from the basic raw materials to
final packaging for shipment. A small
group of engineers is still required to
check the operation from a central con-
trol room.

The need for faster, cheaper produc-
tion in modern mass industry has
created the greatest demand for auto-
mation. Even the production of compli-
cated high-precision items can be done
by automated machines, in one smooth
and continuous operation. Some indus-
tries, such as those using atomic energy,

The automatic control
equipment belongs
to an analogue computer
for the world’s first fully
automatic system for
making ice cream mix. It
calculates ice cream for-
mulae and converts the in-
formation to coded punch
cards. These in turn are
translated through a
batch-blending system to
direct the flow of raw
products from storage to
blending tanks. Wouldn’t
it be a shame if the
“robot” would develop a
taste for ice cream and
eat it up before it reaches
you?

When people hear what the “Ice Cream Robot” can
do, they may picture something like the illustration
at the right. Actually, the robot is handling all of
the operations, only it does not look like a tin man,
but like a calculating machine.

must use automatic machinery because
humans cannot work too near the nu-
clear reactors on account of the dan-
gerous radiations that accompany the
splitting of atoms.

Many automatic robot devices are
now so common in our everyday lives
that few people even take notice of

them. Public buildings have self-service
elevators; some of these even use tape-
recorded messages to instruct passen-
gers who hold up their progress. Central
heating, automatically regulated by the
thermostat, is another example.

The underwater MOBOT can function much bet-
ter than human beings at great undersea depth.

Can robots do
tasks that man
can not do?

During the past decade there has been
an increased interest
in the sea as an im-
portant area for mili-
tary expansion and
as a source for food and raw materials.
Thus, a growing need for performing
complex underwater operations is being
generated. Typical of the operations
which can be performed by properly
selected robot units are:

Installation and adjustment of under-
water detection devices.

Operation, inspection and mainte-
nance of submerged equipment.

Exploration and sampling the ocean
environment.

Location and recovery of objects lost
in the oceans.

Underwater operations associated
with oil well completion.

Underwater mining operations.

Underwater construction operations.

Attaching lines, clevises, slings, etc.,
to underwater objects.

Underwater geological and scientific
explorations.

Underwater farming.

As shown in the illustrations here,
Mobot can be adopted to many of these
undersea jobs. This robot can see, it
can hear, it can feel, it can operate drills,
cutting torches, wrenches and other
special tools; it will proceed to a specific
destination, report to its operator, per-
form its functions, deal with emergen-
cies, carry out alternate decisions — all

Telemetry control panel is used to control the under-
water Mobot on page 45.

at the command of the operator on
board a surface vessel.

Telemetry is the term given to the
process of detecting and

telemetry? S atherin 8 information at
one location and relay-
ing it to another spot automatically.
Many common devices that we see
everyday employ telemetry. For ex-
ample, the temperature gauge on the
dashboard of an automobile tells the
driver, sitting in the car’s front seat,
about the temperature in a different lo-
cation — inside the auto’s engine. When
mechanical robots are used for tele-
meter purposes, in addition to gather-
ing data, they can also do actual work.
We are now employing them for both
undersea and outer space tasks.

Any man would be bold indeed to at-
tempt to spell out today

How ar w hat robots and elec-

can we go?

tronic brains may some
day accomplish. There can scarcely be
any doubt, however, that machines are
doing more and more things better than
people. We have long since become
used to that fact, especially when it
comes to machines that supply physical
muscle; a man with a shovel is no match
for a bulldozer in an earth-moving con-
test. We are beginning, too, to realize
that man can be equally outclassed by
machines that supply power ordinarily
considered unique to the human brain;
an electronic computer may complete
a problem in an hour or two that it
would take a mathematician years to
solve with paper and pencil.

But we must remember that a ma-
chine can only do what it is specifically
programmed to do. At best, it can never
do more than that; it may do less, if it
blows a fuse or runs out of gas. When
it comes to judgment, common sense, or
whatever you want to call it, the ma-
chine is out of the running.

It is not by some coincidence that
people can do things that machines
cannot do, and vice versa. It is, of
course, the reason that man made the
machines in the first place. He harnessed
power to extend his strength and de-
vised automatic controls to rid himself
of undesirable, repetitive tasks.

As technological progress continues
in the future, presumably machines will
continue to do more and more of our
chores, but only as the tools of the hu-
man beings that use them. The ma-

chines will supply brawn and brain
muscle; people will supply the intelli-
gence, foresight, tact, drive, and other
human qualities needed to run a busi-
ness.

Science fiction stories and horror

comics notwithstanding, machines are
not going to take over the world. In the
business world, machines without peo-
ple are as worthless and helpless as a
hammer or screwdriver is when there is
no hand to guide it.

Computer Talk

ACCESS TIME. The time it takes your computer
to find a fact in its memory storage . . . also the
time to find the spot to store it in the first place.

ADDRESS (noun). A designation — numbers,
letters, or both — that indicates where a specific
piece of information can be found in the memory
storage.

ADDRESS (verb). To call a specific piece of
information from the memory or to put it in.

ANALOG COMPUTER. A computer (or calcu-
lating device) that operates by translating num-
bers into measurable quantities such as voltages,
resistances, rotations, or vice versa.

ARITHMETIC SECTION. This is the part of the
processing unit that does the adding, subtracting,
multiplying, dividing, and makes the logical
decisions.

BINARY DIGITS. The kind of numbers that com-
puters use internally. There are only two binary
digits, 1 and 0, otherwise known as “on” and
“off.”

CHANNEL. One-way traffic roads for the flow of
information bit-by-bit, or word-by-word, either
into the computer or to and from the storage.

CODING (noun). A system of symbols and rules
that tell the computer how to handle informa-
tion . . . where to get it, what to do with it,
where to put it, where to go for the next step,
etc. (See Program)

COMMON LANGUAGE. A technique that re-
duces all information to a form that is in-
telligible to the units in a data-processing
system. This enables the units of the computer
to “talk” to one another.

COMPARE. To check information — alphabetical,
numerical or symbolic — against ostensibly re-
lated information in order to determine whether
it is identical, larger or smaller, or in sequence.

COMPUTER WORD. A series of l’s and 0’s
that are grouped into units. These words are
intelligible to the computer and represent alpha-
betic, numeric and special characters.

CONTROL SECTION. Nerve center of the
electronic brain. It prescribes a chain of instruc-
tions (a program) for every bundle of facts that
enters the system. It can send for stored data
when it is needed during the program. It can
examine the results of any step to select the
following step or steps. When one bundle of
facts has been processed, the control section
usually issues orders to start all over again with
the next one.

DATA REDUCTION. The computer job of bring-
ing large masses of raw data down to its simplest
form, and organizing it in an ordered and use-
ful manner.

DIGITAL COMPUTER. A computer (or calcu-
lating device) that operates by using numbers
to express all the quantities and variables of a
problem. In most digital computers, the num-
bers, in turn, are expressed by electrical or
electronic impulses.

INPUT. Computer fodder in the form of bundles
of new facts.

INPUT-OUTPUT DEVICE. A unit that accepts
new data, sends it into the computer for proc-
essing, receives the results and converts them
into a usable form, like payroll checks, or bills.

INPUT STORAGE. First stop for incoming in-
formation. Picks it up so that bundles of
information can get into the system without
waiting for the previous ones to come out the
other end. Enables consecutive bundles to be
compared with each other.

INTERMEDIATE STORAGE. A sort of elec-
tronic scratch pad. As input is turned into

output, it usually goes through a series of
changes. The intermediate memory storage
holds each of the successive changes just as long
as it is needed.

INQUIRY UNIT. A device used to “talk” to the
computer, usually to get quick answers to ran-
dom questions like, “How many hammers do
we have in stock?” or “When did we last order
soap powder and in what quantity?”

INSTRUCTION. A coded program step that tells
the computer what to do for a single operation
in a program.

LOGICAL CHOICE. Making the correct deci-
sions where alternatives or even a variety of
possibilities are open . . . whether to debit or
credit . . . whether or not to issue a replacement
order.

MEMORY STORAGE. The computer’s filing
system. It holds standard or current facts such
as rate tables, current inventories, balances,
etc., and sometimes programming instructions.

The memory storage can be internal, that is,
a part of the computer itself, such as drums,
cores or thin-film. It can also be external such
as paper tape, magnetic tape or punched cards.

MAGNETIC CORE STORAGE. A type of com-
puter storage that employs a core of magnetic
material, wound around with wire. The core
can be charged to represent a binary 1 or 0.

It provides for very fast access to and from
system storage.

MAGNETIC DRUM STORAGE. A metal cyl-
inder, with a sensitized surface, which spins
inside a jacket with reading-writing heads. The
address of every bit of data on the drum is
known, so it is merely a matter of dropping it
into its “cubbyhole” or fishing it out as it passes
under the right head.

MAGNETIC TAPE STORAGE. Reels of metallic
or plastic tape with sensitized surface. Much
like paper tape, except, that instead of punching / . l - ‘

a hole, you charge up a spot. Data can be read,
erased, entered or replaced by recording heads.
Data is usually entered in sequence so that your
computer handles the facts in logical order at
breakneck speed.

OUTPUT. Computer results such as answers to
mathematical problems, statistical, analytical or
accounting figures, production schedules . . .
whatever you may desire.

OUTPUT DEVICE. The unit that translates com-
puter results into usable or final form. (See
Input-Output Device )

PRINTER. An output device for spelling out com-
puter results as numbers, words or symbols.

PROCESSING SECTION. The unit that does the
actual changing of input into output . . . includes
arithmetic section and intermediate storage.

PROGRAM (noun). A set of instructions or steps
that tells the computer exactly how to handle
a complete problem — whatever it is. Most pro-
grams include alternate steps or routines to
take care of variations. Generally, program steps
form a complete cycle. Each incoming bundle of
facts (unit of information) sets off the whole
cycle from start to finish; the succeeding unit
sets it off again and so forth.

PROGRAM (verb). To plan the whole operation
from input to output and set the control section
to handle it.

PROGRAMMER. Person who arranges the pro-
gram.

REAL-TIME. A method of processing data so
fast that there is virtually no passage of time
between inquiry and result.

STORED PROGRAM. A set of instructions in
the memory section that can run the computer
or cut in to take over from the regular program
when the occasion arises. Often used for alter-
nate routines.

Author’s Note: I would like to thank the various manufacturers, especially the Sperry Rand
Corporation, Hughes Aircraft Company, Lockheed California Company, International Business
Machine Corporation, Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, Humble Oil & Refining Com-
pany, and the Raytheon Company, who furnished a great deal of the technical information and
photographs that have appeared in this book.

The robots on the title page are automatons built by General Electric for the World’s Fair in New
York in 1939. Operated by electronics, Electro could say 77 words and Sparko could bark.

5001

5002

5003

5001

5005

5006

5007

5008

5009

5010

5011

5012

5013

5014

5015

5016

5017

5018

5019

5020

5021

5022

i * > 4 &

/. c 'W

HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOKS

Produced and approved by noted authorities, these books
answer the questions most often asked about science, na-
ture and history. They are presented in a clear, readable
style, and contain many colorful and instructive illus-
trations. Readers will want to explore each of these
fascinating subjects and collect these volumes as an
authentic, ready-reference, basic library.

DINOSAURS

WEATHER

ELECTRICITY

ROCKS AND MINERALS

ROCKETS AND MISSILES

STARS

INSECTS

REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
BIRDS

OUR EARTH

BEGINNING SCIENCE

MACHINES

THE HUMAN BODY

SEA SHELLS

ATOMIC ENERGY

THE MICROSCOPE

THE CIVIL WAR

MATHEMATICS

FLIGHT

BALLET

CHEMISTRY

HORSES

5023 EXPLORATIONS AND
DISCOVERIES

5024 PRIMITIVE MAN

5025 NORTH AMERICA

5026 PLANETS AND
INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL

5027 WILD ANIMALS

5028 SOUND

5029 LOST CITIES

5030 ANTS AND BEES

5031 WILD FLOWERS

5032 DOGS

5033 PREHISTORIC MAMMALS

5034 SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

5035 WORLD WAR II

5036 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

5037 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

5038 FISH

5039 ROBOTS AND
ELECTRONIC BRAINS

5040 LIGHT AND COLOR

5041 WINNING OF THE WEST

5042 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

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